Fast-growing private property group PropertyLink is looking to further stock its industrial holdings, with speculation mounting that Valad’s $145 million portfolio could whet its appetite.
PropertyLink is understood to be reviewing the portfolio, which includes six warehouses spanning 113,000sq m. Three of the high-line sheds are in prime industrial areas in Sydney, two in Brisbane, one in Melbourne.
The acquisitive group, which has been under the stewardship of former Valad chief executive Stephen Day for the past two-and-a-half years, has built its industrial property portfolio to $230m through a raft of impressive purchases.
Mr Day is familiar with the Valad portfolio, which includes properties that were purchased during his tenure at the company that is now owned by US private equity behemoth Blackstone.
If a deal goes through, PropertyLink is expected to roll the properties into its new industrial property vehicle, which has backers to the tune of $400m, including Goldman Sachs and Grosvenor Group. With debt in place, the fund has the capacity to own $600m of industrial property.
Mr Day has previously raised the prospect that the fund could pursue a listing on the Australian Securities Exchange.
PropertyLink recently purchased a 10-property portfolio from Frank Wolf’s Abacus Property Group for $106.75m in a deal managed by CBRE and Colliers International. In that transaction it struck a deal on just the assets it wanted, eschewing four properties in Abacus’s $150m offer. Abacus has retained those four properties on its balance sheet.
Mr Day declined to comment on the Valad portfolio. The Valad sale is being handled by Colliers International.
Another portfolio that could sate PropertyLink is the $150m Charter Hall industrial portfolio that will soon be brought to market.
PropertyLink this month purchased two industrial sites in Victoria for $23.4m.
PropertyLink’s focus on the industrial space comes amid a flurry of deals on prime warehouses this year. In February, Fife Capital-managed Australian Industrial REIT snapped up six industrial properties for $81.2m from Western Australia-based property syndicator Primewest.
Institutional investors are vying for the mandate to build a new industrial facility for logistics company CEVA. CEVA is looking for 70,000sq m of space in Melbourne and a further 80,000sq m in Sydney. Australand has been named as a favourite to pick up the contract in Melbourne, though Dexus and Goodman are also said to be in the race.